What are the devices of a computer?

The physical, touchable, electronic and mechanical parts of a computer

are called the hardware which is composed of different devices attached to the
computer.

The following list represents a basic set of devices found in most

Personal Computers.

1. System Unit- The main part of a microcomputer, sometimes called the

chassis. It includes the following parts: Motherboard, Microprocessor, Memory
Chips, Buses, Ports, Expansion Slots and Cards.

Figure4 . Tower Type System Unit

2. Motherboard / Mainboard / System Board- The main circuit board of a

computer. It contains all the circuits and components that run the computer.
 Figure5. Modern Motherboard

3. CPU (Central Processing Unit) - The processor is the main “brain” or “heart”
of a computer system. It performs all of the instructions and calculations that
are needed and manages the flow of information through a computer.

Figure6. Examples of CPU (Intel Core 2 Duo and AMD Athlon)

4. Primary storage- (internal storage, main memory or memory) is the

computer's working storage space that holds data, instructions for processing
and processed data (information) waiting to be sent to secondary storage.
Physically, primary storage is a collection of RAM chips.
 Two (2) Types of Memory

a. ROM – (Read Only Memory) ROM is non-volatile, meaning it holds data

even when the power is ON or OFF.
b. RAM – (Random Access Memory) RAM is volatile, meaning it holds
data only when the power is on. When the power is off, RAM's contents
are lost.

Figure 7.Examples of RAM

5. Expansion Bus - A bus is a data pathway between

several hardware components inside or outside a
computer. It does not only connect the parts of the CPU to
each other, but also links the CPU with other important
hardware.

Figure 8.Expansion Bus

6. Adapters- Printed-circuit boards (also called interface cards) that

enable the computer to use a peripheral device for which it does not
have the necessary connections or circuit boards. They are often
used to permit upgrading to a new different hardware.
 Figure 9. Adapter (Network Adapter)

7. Power Supply Unit

(PSU) - Installed in the back corner of
the PC case, next to the motherboard.
It converts 120vac (standard house
power) into DC voltages that are
used by other components in the
PC.

Figure10. Power supply

8. Hard Disk Drive (HDD) - Also known as

hard drive, is a magnetic storage device that
is installed inside the computer. The hard
drive is used as permanent storage for data.
In a Windows computer, the hard drive is
usually configured as the C: drive and
contains the operating system and
applications. Figure 11.Hard Disc

9. Optical Drive- An optical

drive is a storage device that
uses lasers to read data on
the optical media. There are
three types of optical drives:
Compact Disc (CD), Digital
Versatile Disc (DVD) and Blu-
ray
Disc
(BD).
Figure12. CD ROM

10. Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) - Designed to optically access data

stored on a DVD. A laser moves back and forth near the disk
surface and accesses data at a very fast rate.